A look inside the new Trailblazer Conference

With the forming of the new Trailblazer Conference, many conferences and schedules will look different in the near future. The inaugural members include Beatrice, Nebraska City, Platteview, Plattsmouth, Ralston, and Wahoo. Focusing on mostly Class B schools, Wahoo is a larger Class C1 school, but already competing in Class B in some sports. Conferences affected with teams (in bold) moving to the Trailblazer Conference: River Cities Conference - Beatrice, Duchesne, Gross Catholic, Mount Michael, Omaha Mercy, Ralston, Roncalli Catholic, Skutt Catholic, South Sioux City Eastern Midlands Conference - Bennington, Blair, Elkhorn, Elkhorn North, Nebraska City, Norris, Plattsmouth, Waverly Nebraska Capitol Conference - Ashland-Greenwood, Arlington, DC West, Fort Calhoun, Platteview, Raymond Central, Syracuse, Wahoo A look at the 2020 volleyball outlook of the Trailblazer Conference: Beatrice, Class B, 2019 Record 15-16 - Leaving River Cities Conference When it comes to the serve-pass game, junior Mak Hatcliff took serve-receive to another level in 2019 with over 600 receptions. With consistent passing to sophomore setter Jaiden Coudyas the Orangemen should be in system often and look to sophomore Chelsea Leners and junior Kaitlyn Church in the front row. Nebraska City, Class B, 2019 Record 8-21 - Leaving Eastern Midlands Conference The Pioneers look to rebuild around juniors Rachel Russell (1st team EMC) and setter Alexis Hoover (HM EMC). Junior Madi Mitchell, sophomore Katie Schreiter, and freshman Halle Thompson will be expected to step up and if they do, Nebraska City will have a well-rounded team looking to compete with their new schedule. Platteview, Class B, 2019 Record 23-8 - Leaving Nebraska Capitol Conference After a trip to state in 2019, the Trojans lose some mainstays in their lineup from the last couple of years. Libero junior Kyra Gray (2nd team NCC) will be a key leader for Platteview to persevere. Juniors Jaedyn Parks and hopefully an injury-free [player_tooltip player_id="82621" first="Veronica" last="Guenther"] return. Plattsmouth, Class B, 2019 Record 12-14 - Leaving Eastern Midlands Conference The EMC teams prepared Plattsmouth to be competitive and scrappy, in return, don’t overlook this team and take them lightly. Juniors Savanna Berger (HM EMC), Kennedy Miller (HM EMC), and setter Rylee Hellbusch (HM EMC) return for the Blue Devils with many younger players getting some varsity reps in 2019. Ralston, Class B, 2019 Record 4-26 - Leaving River Cities Conference Already playing 4 of the 6 teams in the new conference, the Rams won’t be changing their schedule much. Taking one game at a time, the Rams look to even out their win-loss record. [caption id="attachment_19175" align="alignright" width="275"] Elle Glock, Wahoo.[/caption] Wahoo, Class C1, 2019 Record 30-4 - Leaving Nebraska Capitol Conference With 30-4, 35-2, and 34-2 records the last three years, the juniors on the Warrior team have an overall 99-8 record, two state championships, and a 3rd place state finish during their high school career. And, fortunate for them and unfortunate for other teams, they will only graduate 2 seniors off the 2019 team. All-state players junior setter Elle Glock (1st team NCC Captain, Committed to USC) and sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="37530" first="Mya" last="Larson"] (1st team NCC, Captain) are one of the toughest 1-2 punch in Nebraska. Junior Kelsie Sears (2nd team NCC), sophomores Josie Sutton, Taylor Luben, and Mya Emerson return with varsity experience.